5 reasons Cubs-Indians was the best World Series ever
The World Series has been played since 1903; Cubs-Indians may go down in history as the greatest Fall Classic ever.
Admittedly, I have not been alive for every single World Series in baseball’s long history. The Fall Classic has been played since 1903, and the Chicago Cubs won two of the first five. The Cubbies did not win one for the next 108 years, but that drought has finally ended.
This World Series had it all, and culminated in an epic Game 7 battle that took extra innings to decide. Combined with the dramatics on the field and the back stories surrounding both teams in the series and their tortured fanbases, there was no shortage of intrigue surrounding the 2016 World Series. When the dust settles, and the baseball world has time to catch its breath, the matchup between the Cubs and the Cleveland Indians may be considered the best World Series of all-time.
Here are the five biggest reasons Cubs-Indians will forever be remembered as the greatest World Series in baseball history.
5. The crossover appeal
In years past, baseball ruled over the sporting world in the United States of America. When the Cubs won their last World Series title, Major League Baseball was the only major professional sports league in the country. As the NFL and NBA continue to dwarf the MLB in importance, ratings and interest in the World Series have shrunk.
This World Series may be the one that begins reversing that decades-long trend for baseball. World Series Game 7 will go down as the most-watched baseball game in 15 years. As many as 40 million people may have been tuned into the game, making it the second-highest rated television event of the year behind the Super Bowl. Baseball has waited years for a game like this to reconnect with the country.
The 2016 finale pales in comparison to the all-time highs set during the 1986 World Series, another seven-game classic. That does not diminish the importance of the game, as it will likely go down as the second highest-rated Game 7 of all time. As the action unfolded Wednesday night, it felt as if everyone, even the most casual sports fans, had their television tuned to the World Series.
Everything went right for Major League Baseball in this World Series. The Cubs and their cadre of celebrity fans like Bill Murray, Vince Vaughn, Eddie Vedder, and John Cusak were pitted against LeBron James, a shirtless JR Smith, and Charlie Sheen decked out in full Wild Thing Vaughn garb. Throw in the checkered histories of the Cubs and Indians, who had combined for nearly two centuries of empty postseasons, and the league had a recipe for can’t-miss television.
Seriously, will anyone ever forget comedian Bill Murray interviewing Cubs executive Theo Epstein in the clubhouse? The entertainment value may or may not have been enhanced by an adult beverage — or twelve.
"Drunk Bill Murray interviewing drunk Theo Epstein is one of the best interviews ever. https://t.co/STy90yPQSc — Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) November 3, 2016"
Will the 2016 World Series go down in history as the series that put baseball back on the right path in popular culture? It is certainly a good start. If an entire generation of new baseball fans were minted over the past ten days, that alone is enough to vault Cubs-Indians into the upper echelons of World Series classics.